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MEDIA RELEASEJune 2016
Towards building a more competitive tourism work force
The Department of Tourism (DOT) recently held a Tourism Skills Forum on 1
June 2016 at the !anila "eninsula #otel$ !akati %ity to present updates on the
Tourism Industry Skills Development Program (T&SD")$ a key component of thePhilippine Improving Competitiveness in Tourism("&%Tourism) pro'ect
"&%Tourism is an onoin technical assistance pro'ect for the DOT and *hich is
administered +y the ,sian De-elopment .ank (,D.) and funded +y the o-ernment of
%anada &t focuses on impro-in /uality standards of tourism throuh inter-entions in
the areas of /uality assurance and accreditation of hotels and resorts$ skills
de-elopment$ and reulatory re-ie* of the sector
On skills de-elopment$ the T&SD" has +een desined as an inno-ati-e and
flei+le mechanism to address the trainin and de-elopment needs of the eistintourism industry *orkforce &ts acti-ities include impro-ement of tourism curricula and
teachin methodoloies$ conduct of research and the &ndustry Skills rant Scheme
(&SS) *hich etends financial assistance to tourismoriented firms to impro-e its
human resources
The &SS has in-aria+ly raised the competiti-eness of the tourism sector
throuh the monetary rants for trainin prorams that center on enhancin the skills
and competency le-els$ specifically of frontline ser-ice personnel
%anada ,m+assador to the "hilippines 3eil 4eeder said$ 5&t is a special
milestone today in our collecti-e efforts in-ol-in the DOT$ the ,D.$ %anada and of
course$ the tourism industry representati-es$ to impro-e the competiti-eness of the
tourism sector Today *e cele+rate the success of the &ndustry Skills rant Scheme
(&SS) .oth the pri-ate and o-ernment sectors are in-estin in the &SS and
e-eryone +enefits from this proram The "hilippine tourism *orkforce *ill find itself at
an ad-antae in comparison *ith the ,S7,3 peers8
DOT Media Release Page
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Speakin on the concept of competiti-eness$ DOT Secretary 4amon 4
Jimene9$ Jr said$ 5Today$ *e ha-e a -ery clear -ie* of the reional and lo+al
challenes *e face ,nd thanks in no small part to the encouraement of our earnest
de-elopment partners : the o-ernment of %anada and the ,sian De-elopment .ank
(,D.)$ *e ha-e formulated a simple +ut effecti-e stratey for mo-in for*ard ,nd it
startles so many people +ecause of its simplicity Competitiveness troug peopleThe taline of this stratey means successful hospitality and tourism enterprises
depend to a -ery lare etent$ upon the people *ho *ork in the +usinesses in all areas
and all le-els Therefore$ ho* they are recruited$ ho* they are manaed$ ho* they are
trained and educated$ ho* they are sho*n their -alue and re*arded and ho* they are
supported throuh courses and continuous learnin and career de-elopment are -ital
considerations8
!ean*hile$ ,D. Director ;elly .ird conratulated the a*ardees and said that
,D. remains committed to the DOT and the industry and that it *ill continue to support
the skills de-elopment proram
The first round of rants *as a*arded in 201 amountin to ?0$000 The
26 recipients +enefitted around $200 employees of tourism enterprises$ community
ser-ice orani9ations (%SO) and industry associations in the pilot pro-inces of .ohol$
%e+u$ Da-ao and "ala*an ,t present$ the rant for the first and second phases has
reached
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to*ards de-elopin more competent$ *ellmoti-ated and producti-e *orkforce that is at
par *ith international standards$ such as the ,S7,3 &t also seeks to support the
certification process in consonance *ith the ,S7,3 !4, for Tourism "rofessionals to
pro-ide for opportunities for cooperation and capacity +uildin and facilitate mo+ility
*ithin the tourism sector in the country and in ,S7,3
,ssistant Secretary %ai9al emphasi9ed that$ 5&t is the 3TD"Es -ision for the
"hilippines to +ecome the ma'or source for hihly trained *orkforce and center for
tourism hospitality trainin and education in the reion8
DOT
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Other speakers (K4) T7SD, Director Susan Dela 4ama$ DOT ,ssistant Secretary 4olando %ai9al
and DOT
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,*ardees of Da-ao
,*ardees of "ala*an
#ando-er of the Tourism #uman 4esources De-elopment Stratey (K4) Senior "roram Officer of the
o-ernment of %anada 3arcisa 4i-era$ DOT